Embattled IPCC chief RK Pachauri today found support in UN's climate chief Yvo de Boer, who said holding him responsible for the goof up in the world body's report on Himalayan glaciers would be "senseless".
Equating Pachauri with a "tall tree which collects a lot of winds," Boer, the executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change said, "he (Pachauri) is a very respected international scientist and is leading the IPCC in a very dedicated way."
The IPCC received the Nobel Peace prize not for its last report but all the work that has been done by the scientific community, Boer told reporters when asked if Pachauri should resign in the wake of controversy over report on Himalayan glaciers.
"I hope he does not (resign). I think that asking him to take responsibility for a single mistake which he has recognised by abandoning it from the report in question would be senseless," Boer added.
Praising Pachauri, Boer said "there is a saying, tall trees collect a lot of wind....well Pachauri is tall tree".
Pachauri, who is under attack from various quarters over the IPCC's 2007 report on Himalayan glaciers, has already ruled out his resignation saying that the mistake was "unfortunate" and he would go ahead to complete the Fifth IPCC Assessment Report.
Boer, however admitted that the mistake (that the Himalayan glaciers will melt by 2035) gave the sceptics an opportunity to question the science of climate change but pointed that there will always be the margins of uncertainty in science.
"The scientific community has made clear that other criticisms (regarding Amazon forests and disappearing of ice from mountain peaks) have proved to be unfounded," the climate chief noted.
He maintained that nobody was denying that the Himalayan glaciers were disappearing fast as a result of climate change. "What is happening now is comparable with the Titanic sinking more slowly than expected.
"But that does not alter the inevitable consequences, unless rigorous action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions is taken," Boer asserted.
He said the IPCC, a body comprised of over 2,400 scientists does not do original scientific work but only assess the scientific literature and reflect that it in the balance way and infact sometimes that assessment is so balanced that it is actually frustrating for the policy makers who have to work hard to adjust with their economic growth.
